Easy Buttons- 09.17.07

Ready for possibly one of my most ridiculous posts ever? (And my excuse of the moment is, i’m having some personal issues, so i’m coping by doing silly things like this). So remember the Staples Easy Button? I posted it about it back in December 2005… and i’m assuming that thanks to unintentional SEO, all those crazy comments of people discussing how to hack it (to become a garage door opener, make circus noises, etc) came from random searches. Well i never knew there were Staples Boton Facils too! But what really kicked this whole thing off was i was wandering around Yahoo Campus after the Company Store had already closed, and upon peering in the window i saw these INSTA-YODEL buttons, and HAD to have one. So i went back this morning to get one of those, and naturally needed to go grab the Staples one too (i had no idea there were facil buttons until i showed up).

Anyhow, more pictures below, and i even made a silly little VIDEO (because these buttons, as cool as they are, are meaningless without hearing them all)… and a mini rant on the design of these button options.

This is the classic Staples EASY Button ~ in the fancy gift box, as it tells you - “The easiest gift ever - flip the lid for an instant gift box.” And its all nicely set in the black box with black flocked plastic holding it in… and a bright red lid. Not to mention it’s only $4.98!

Fun design details… the curvature of the base and the extruded text is a nice touch. It’s so cartoony it’s awesome. Also the voice just makes me laugh. And its loud, but not TOO loud when its on a desk. (using any of these on a couch is a nice simple way to mute them)

The YAHOO! INSTA-YODEL. This is much bigger, and much cheaper plastic. and no extrusion of the text/logo, its all just printed on. It also is far too easy to push, less satisfying than the others, infact its a bit loose, not flushed to the base (which lacks the great curvature of the easy buttons)… and no fun packaging here, just the white cardboard box they ship in. It’ll also set you back $19.00…. thats 4 easy buttons! BUT i do love the yodel. Its just too funny ~ and its also FAR louder than the others. I think i will only be pressing this one on the couch.

The Staples Boton Facil. Same deal as the EASY Button ~ the guy sounds much more cheery though. And the packaging, not so fun… but this is what the standard packaging for the EASY Button looks like too… not nearly as fun for the same price as the gift pack. Also a whopping $4.98!